Leave the filtering to someone else
HOW IT WORKS: Most major national Internet service providers offer prefiltered browsing as an option. Some smaller providers, such as FamilyConnect and Internet4 Families, cater to Christian families and offer nothing but filtered access. Other companies, such as SurfMonkey.com (which makes a browser that would appeal to kids in first through sixth grades) and Crayon Crawler (whose browser is aimed at kids slightly younger), provide free, ad-supported browsers that prevent access to unapproved sites.
PROS: Whether you let your ISP do the filtering or go with SurfMonkey.com or Crayon Crawler, the filtering is done on the other end of the phone, making it harder for kids to bypass it and saving you the trouble of constant updates. (You still, however, have to set up each child with his or her own account and settings.)
CONS: Most ISPs, as well as SurfMonkey.com and Crayon Crawler, use versions of the same software available for home use and are just as fallible. And this approach again takes control away from parents.
BOTTOM LINE: For convenience, this strategy can't be beat. But some ISPs charge extra for filtering, and neither of the free, ad-supported browsers works on Macintosh computers.
